Former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) donated almost all of his remaining campaign funds to his alma mater, the University of Alabama, in April.
According to a quarterly filing with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, Shelby made a $5 million charitable contribution with campaign funds to the university on April 6.
According to a Roll Call article in February, Shelby had the second-most cash-on-hand amongst retired members of Congress at $5.5 million before the donation to the University of Alabama. Shelby retired in January.
Before the donation to his alma mater, Shelby’s largest campaign expense was a $4 million donation in November to Georgetown University. His wife, Annette Shelby, is a retired Georgetown University faculty member.
According to The Hoya, the donation was the largest ever congressional campaign donation directly to a university, according to Andrew Mayersohn, a researcher at OpenSecrets, an independent nonprofit that tracks money in U.S. politics. It’s now the second largest, apparently.
The filing didn’t specify what the $5 million would be used for at the University of Alabama.
Shelby earmarked $10 million for the University of Alabama (UA) to create a “public service and leadership institute.” The institute was later named after Shelby by the university’s board in February.
The board used $100 million of federal funding earmarked by Shelby in the 2022 omnibus spending package to create an endowment also in Shelby’s name: The Shelby Endowment for Distinguished Faculty.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Shelby currently has $362,250 left in his Senate campaign account. He also has approximately $638,875 left in his Defend America PAC.
Defend America PAC’s most recent filing for June shows a $5,000 donation to U.S. Sen. Katie Britt’s (R-Montgomery) Alabama First PAC on June 22.
Sen. Shelby UA Donation by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
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